Jarnail Singh is a retired English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 association football referee of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n descent who officiates in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

. He moved to Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, at a young age, and now lives in Hounslow

Hounslow

Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...

, Greater London

Greater London

Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...

. He has a full-time occupation in the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan Police Service

The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Career

Singh took up refereeing in 1985, after taking his exam in order to improve his frequent outings as club linesman for the youth team he managed. He progressed through lower leagues in the Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

 area and then into the Conference South

Conference South

Conference South is one of the second divisions of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National...

 regionally, before being appointed as a Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 assistant referee in 1999. Whilst still a Conference referee, he was put in charge of an FA Vase

FA Vase

The Football Association Challenge Vase is an annual football competition for teams playing below Step 4 of the English National League System...

 semi-final first leg tie, between Oadby Town

Oadby Town F.C.

Oadby Town Football Club is an association football club based in Oadby, in central England.-History:The exact year of formation is unsure but it is believed to be either 1937 or 1939 under the guise of Oadby Imperial. The club did not have to wait long for their first honours winning the "City...

 and Brigg Town

Brigg Town F.C.

Brigg Town Football Club, formed in 1864, are a football team from Brigg, North Lincolnshire. They are the oldest football team in the county and one of the oldest in the world...

 on 22 March 2003, and, shortly before his elevation to Football League referee for the 2004-05

2004-05 in English football

The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...

 season, he was appointed to the middle for the Football Conference Playoff semi-final first leg between Aldershot Town

Aldershot Town F.C.

Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 and Hereford United

Hereford United F.C.

Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',...

 on April 29, 2004.

His first match after his promotion was the Football League Two

Football League Two

Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 encounter between Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 and Bury

Bury F.C.

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

 at the Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium (Bristol)

The Memorial Stadium, also commonly known by its previous name of The Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in Bristol, England, dedicated to the memory of the rugby union players of the city killed during World War I...

 on 10 August 2004, in which he sent off Colin Woodthorpe

Colin Woodthorpe

Colin Woodthorpe is a veteran English footballer currently serving as assistant manager at Colwyn Bay F.C..-Early career:...

 of Bury in the 65th minute.

His final match before retirement was on 1 May 2010, refereeing a League 1

Football League One

Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 game between Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town F.C.

Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...

 versus Oldham Athletic at Huish Park

Huish Park

Huish Park is a football ground in the suburbs of Yeovil, Somerset, England and is the home ground of Yeovil Town Football Club. The stadium replaced the club's previous ground, The Huish famous for numerous FA Cup giant-killings was officially opened on 4 August 1990, with a match against then...

 in Yeovil

Yeovil

Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...

. Before the match he was unusually signing autographs and having photos taken with fans.

Personal life

Singh is employed by the Metropolitan Police as a Police Community Support Officer

Police community support officer

A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...

 in London, and is married with two children, Sunny and Bhupsy Gill, who are now also qualified referees looking to follow in their fathers footsteps.

External links

• Jarnail Singh Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com
• National Group Profile - Jarnail Singh at refworld.com